The Adventures of the Other Captain Jack
by Pmpknqueen
Summary: Jack is a modern day pirate who seems to find herself in constant trouble but what happens when she finds a mysterious blue box on the deck of her ship?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: As always, I do not own the Doctor and the like. Captain Jack is mine though! Contact me if you wish to use her for anything or read other stories based on her…I just can't let go of her! Also, all chapters start with the number, who's point of view the chapter is from, and the title of the chapter. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1 Jack- What the hell?

Some say I'm a pirate, others just think I'm a thief plain and simple. I prefer to think of myself as a scavenger. When I'm not hauling cargo that is. See, in modern times, uncharted waters are nonexistent and tracking a ship, especially one the size of the Sunset Ambrosia or bigger, is easy. I have a way of staying under the radar and have a tendency to use that to my advantage. Most the cargo I carry isn't illegal, just hard to explain to customs officials. I had come across several treasures in recent history keeping me and my crew comfortable staying out at sea. I never did fit in on land anyways.

I was sitting at my desk when I heard it for the first time, that screeching followed by a low rumbling before the ship lurched like it had just sunk a few inches. The ship bobbed back up but still, it was like something landed on us. Problem with that was that were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, nothing should be landing on us. There was silence for a few seconds before the commotion started. I could hear my men running up the stairs. It's safe to say I didn't drink too much vodka to make up that noise. I shoved my revolver into the back of my torn jeans and pulled my long blonde hair into a pony tail.

"What the hell is going on out here?" I yelled as soon as I flung the glass double doors to my cabin open. The majority of my crew were surrounding a blue box that had appeared right in the middle of the deck, only about seven feet from wheel. "What the hell is that?" I pointed to the wooden box. It looked like a telephone booth but only with no windows.

"Joey, I need more light!" I yelled up to the navigation room that sat over top my room. The layout of my ship was pretty basic. She was a pirate ship at one point, although depending on who you ask they might say it still is. My room was on the deck along with the helm while a small room sat over top that we used as a navigation room since you could see more. The first floor below the deck contained a small galley, Joey, my first mate's cabin, a cabin for my best friend Ellie when she chose to tag along, an infirmary (cot nailed to the wall of a closet filled with pure alcohol and cotton swabs, thanks to Ellie), and the main living area for the ten man crew. Below that was the cargo hold and the brig (two cells in a room). The floor below that wasn't supposed to be there and took a lot of know how to realize it was there. That was where I hid all the cargo of an illegal nature. Right now it contained a few paintings that were supposed to have been destroyed during WWI.

Joey looked reluctant to put down his shotgun but he did and went into the little room and soon the deck was flooded with florescent light from the masts overhead. Joey had been my dad's first mate when he was operating a fishing boat turned treasure hunting operation. Joey had just kind of drifted along to me after my father's death.

I didn't like the blue box any better all lit up. There was something odd about it, I mean other than it appearing out of thin air onto my ship. I'd seen some pretty odd things in my fifteen years of running cargo and treasure hunting, but this took the cake. I wanted to look away from the box so I turned back to Joey and shrugged. The door to the thing opened and every gun that had started to ease was raised and pointed directly at the box and the tall, thin man who appeared out the door. "Oh, hello!" He greeted us with a wave. He had a brown pinstripe suit with a long tan coat on overtop. It wasn't exactly warm where we were but it wasn't cold enough to need all those layers.

"Stay right there!" I commanded and pulled my own gun from the waist band of my pants. He studied me before his eyes drifted to the gun in my hand.

"There's no need for those, I'm unarmed," he said lower this time, less thrilled about the guns.

"You just appeared on my ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, I think guns are warranted right now," I told him.

The man looked around and seemed to realize he was on a ship before he turned back to me. "I love boats," he said with a smile despite the guns. "I'm guessing late 1700's," he put a hand on the mast next to where the blue box had appeared. He looked back at me and my ripped jeans and AC/DC tee shirt, then up to the lights lining the sails. "Or maybe not."

"Who are you and how did you get here and what is that?" I pointed to the box.

He ran his hand through his hair. "I think I may have overshot my destination a bit," he mumbled to himself still looking around the ship. "I'm the Doctor by the way."

"The Doctor?" I repeated.

"Yup, that's me," he waved. "That's my TARDIS, it travels through space and time."

"Right," I put my gun back in my pants pocket feeling the mother of all headaches coming on. I needed a drink more than I needed to deal with this. "Take him to the brig and stay on course for Mexico," I told the crew and went back towards the doors to my cabin. "Be nice to him," I warned the guys as an afterthought. "And move that thing before we get to Mexico. I don't want Juan to get any bright ideas." I slammed the door pretty hard and went back to my desk and the maps.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Jack- I was never that good at torture

I woke up the next morning at close to sunrise and was trying to go about my day as normal when I remembered we had a guest. I had really hoped the events of the previous night had just been a result of consuming too much tequila, or vodka, or both. Unfortunately the blue box was still there, like it was waiting for us to acknowledge its presence.

"That thing's still there," I warned Joey as I made my way to the navigation room. I never went up there. It was where all the technology was and I had no desire to learn how to use any of it. I was happy to use my maps and compasses. Besides, my ship was from the 18th Century, you still had to steer from down on the deck.

"It won't budge," he said. "We tried everything. It'll need a forklift but I don't think that'll do it any good. It's like it's attached to the Ambrosia."

I rubbed my eyes with the sleeve of my long black sweater before leaning over the railing to look at the blue box. "Any ideas how it got here?"

"Not one," Joey told me. "There was nothing on radar or sonar. I checked the logs thinking maybe I had fallen asleep, but there's nothing. Just that noise and then it was here."

"And the man who came out of it?" I asked.

"Hasn't said anything since getting here."

"Great," I muttered and pushed myself off the railing. We wouldn't be getting to Mexico until nightfall at the earliest so I went down to the deck where the blue box was. I walked all the way around it, studying everything about it. There was no way that thing had just fallen onto my ship, it had to come from somewhere. And how on earth had that man fit inside for so long? I walked up to what I presumed was the front and pulled on the door handle. It wouldn't budge, locked. I gave up and figured there was someone who knew more about it.

The brig was one floor below the crew quarters and happened to be right next to the main cargo hold, the one where we kept all the legal cargo. This week we a couple dozen crates fabric. Granted I didn't know what was underneath the fabric in those crates but knowing Juan, it was something along the lines of stolen car parts. I had picked up a banana and a bottle of orange juice on my way down. I unlocked the main door and went in. We usually didn't have a need for a brig so I was surprised to see the bars to the two cells inside still intact. The man was in the first one, sitting on the blanket they'd thrown in with him. He looked tired and scruffy but he smiled as I walked in. I didn't say anything, just sat down on the floor in front of him with the bars between us.

"I got it," he said suddenly. "I must be in some time between 1990 and 2015."

I rolled my eyes figuring this was going to go about as well as it did last night. "Here," I handed him the banana and juice through the bars. "Are you going to tell me who you are?"

"I'm the Doctor," he said simply.

"I need at least a last name unless you enjoy spending the rest of your life in the cell," I warned him.

"You haven't told me yours."

"Fine," I gritted my teeth. "Jack D'Ambrosio."

"Isn't Jack usually a boy's name?"

I worried for my teeth I was grinding them together so hard watching him peel the banana. "Short for Jacqueline."

"I know a Captain Jack," he grinned but frowned as I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What is that thing on my deck?"

"I told you last night," he said. I could tell he was getting frustrated with me too but I wasn't following him.

"You told me gibberish last night."

"And you had twelve guns pointed at my head."

"Because my crew was in danger," I said and realized there was no point in arguing with him so I stood up. "Fine, sit here and rot. I have more important things to do right now." I slammed the door behind me and stood outside for a moment. I was shocked to see it swing open and the man standing next to me carrying the juice in one hand and what looked like a thick pen in the other. "What the hell?" I looked back into the brig to see the door to the cell swinging wide open. "I know those are old but they're steel! How did you do that?"

"Sonic screw driver," He held up the pen thingy. "Come on, I have something to show you."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The Doctor- I'm just as confused

I knew I was in trouble when the TARDIS locked onto Earth and made a crash landing. I hadn't expected to have landed on a ship, then again it wasn't the first time I had run into a ship. This time though, I hadn't been making repairs. In fact, I had been planning on visiting the 1889 World's Fair but I'd ended up here and the TARDIS had no plans on leaving any time soon. She'd planted herself onto the deck and I had no idea how to get her unstuck so I'd gone outside. Eleven guns were immediately trained on me and I was surrounded by a group of men who most would have called uncivilized. Then she joined them, the Captain. I'd figured out I was on a pirate ship but then she walked out with her jeans and band tee shirt and turned on all kinds of lights, not things normally found on Earth pirate ships. I thought I had been very upfront with her but I'd still ended up in the brig. I could have gotten out earlier but since the TARDIS hadn't wanted to move, I stayed put.

Jack followed me up on the deck. "Captain?" I heard one of them yell to her seeing me out of my cell.

"It's okay," she assured them. A rifle was offered to her but she waved it off. Maybe she was a little less barbaric than I'd thought. "Okay, what do you want me to see?" She asked impatiently as we walked up onto the deck. The sunlight was almost blinding but it was nice, good to see sunlight and brightness for a change. I looked over this Captain Jack in the light finally getting a good look at her. She had a long black sweater pulled over her shorts, cutoff denim to the knees. Her long blonde hair was still as wild as it was the night before sticking up in various places like she hadn't brushed it in days. She was smaller than I had thought from last night, almost a foot shorter than me with a softer face even though she was frowning at me.

"This," I told her looking away and back to the TARDIS. I pulled open the door and waved my arm for her. "Ladies first."

She rolled her eyes and poked her head in. "Holy hellfire," she exclaimed. Definitely American. "It's bigger on the inside." She walked in.

"Yeah I get that a lot," I smiled and followed her in.

"You weren't lying?" She said that as more of a question as she spun around to face me. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," I repeat nearly laughing as her eyes went back to wandering. "I'm a Time Lord."

"I don't know what that is."

I looked down at the floor wondering if it was always going to be like this. The humans never knowing anything about the universe around them. It seemed like I was always explaining that I was the last of my kind and them never understanding what that's like. Jack leaned against the center console and looked at me. "How did it get here?"

"I don't know, she picked here and rooted herself," I looked over the monitors. She was still stuck. "You wouldn't have anything extraterrestrial aboard would you?" She shook her head no quickly. "Okay, nothing odd that would attract something like my ship?"

She turned her head away from me. She was hiding something. "Not that I know of. We just run cargo. I don't ask about the cargo but it wouldn't be anything like that."

"Yet you have a ship from the 18th century?"

"Found her in shallow waters 15 years ago and restored her," Jack said. She was still lying to me but it looked like I had plenty of time to figure out what about.

"My turn," I said and sat down across from where she was leaning. "Where am I?"

"My ship, the Sunset Ambrosia, Atlantic Ocean heading for Mexico, Earth, 2010," she looked at me with her piercing green eyes and I wondered how many men had fallen into that trap. She kept looking at me like she was trying to figure me out and I wanted to tell her I was just as confused as she was about our situation but she stood up. "I have things to do. Since I trust you won't be staying in the brig any longer, you can at least make yourself useful. Joey can find you something to do or you can focus your attention on getting this thing off my ship."

"Yes ma'am," I told her trying to be serious as she walked back out into the bright sunshine. She didn't seem like the type to joke about all the time. "Well," I said to the console," time to go find what brought us here." Assuming Jack didn't shoot me for wandering about her ship.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Jack- I love Mexico

"What exactly is he doing out of the brig and walking around?" Joey asked me later in the day. I was back hunched over my desk, trusty bottle of vodka swaying across the old wood in time with the rocking of the boat, when Joey burst into my cabin. I thought I had told him before not to do that. That was the trouble of employing your dad's best friend, he seemed to think he could get away with being all fatherly.

"The brig won't hold him," I said without looking up. I could tell Joey was still staring at me so I put down my pencil and turned to him. "Trust me, it just won't."

"So you thought it'd be okay to let him wander around the ship? He's creeping the crew out," Joey frowned and the deep lines above his brow seemed to grow longer. "He thinks he's a Martian."

"Nonsense, he's not from Mars."

"You don't actually believe him?" Joey asked with a sigh.

"We've seen weirder and how do you explain the blue box?" I asked him.

He just shrugged in response. "Either way, he's annoying the crew, the armed crew," he oh so subtly hinted.

"I'll have a word with him." I stood up and took a long swig of vodka before heading out to the deck. The water was calming and the wind dying down so we were getting closer to land, probably only a few hours away from making port. I couldn't see the Doctor anywhere, I'd given up on getting any other names out of him but still thought that was a ridiculous name for a man. I found him below deck, searching through the crew's quarters. He was hunched over Scotty's trunk with the thing he called a sonic screwdriver humming along. "What are you doing?" I asked. The Doctor jumped up and spun around.

"Well that's one way to make sure your hearts are working," he smiled widely at me. I stared at him trying to keep frowning even though his grin was infectious. Besides, hearts? Plural? "I was looking for whatever the TARDIS latched onto."

"So you're searching the crew's stuff, good plan," I turned on my heels. The sonic screwdriver started humming again. "Come with me Doctor," I yelled at him and waited at the stairs until I heard his feet behind me. "We'll be landing soon."

"Okay," he nodded as I stopped at the doors in front of my cabin.

"Which means you'll be staying put, preferably in your blue box," I pointed to it still sitting in the middle of my deck having been unsuccessfully moved.

"Where will you be?"

"I have a meeting with the man who's cargo is in the hold." I sighed.

"And to get kidnapped!" Joey yelled down from the navigation room.

"I'm not going to get kidnapped!"

"You always get kidnapped," I could tell Joey had rolled his eyes as he said that.

"I want to go with you," the Doctor said suddenly.

"Not a chance," I shook my head. "I don't like it but Joey has a point. I have a way of ending up kidnapped."

"All the more reason to take me," he smiled again.

"What about the thing sticking your box?" I asked.

"Maybe it's on land?"

I didn't believe him but I didn't know why he would lie either. "You're not going. You can annoy the crew all you want but you're not going with me and that's final."

Two hours later I was standing on a rickety wooden dock slightly worried about falling through the boards and into the water. No one ever listens to me when I tell them to stay on the Sunset Ambrosia. The doctor walked down the plank swaggering a little, hands in his pockets, looking down the poorly lit dock and then the sun setting off in the distance. "Right, then, where are we going?"

"I'm going to hell," I muttered under my breath.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Jack- I'm Starting to Hate Mexico

"Why do you need guns?" The Doctor asked. We hadn't made it to the end of the docks when he started in.

"You're a talker aren't you?"

"Best quality," he flashed another smile at me. "You didn't answer my question."

"I need them because we're going to meet a very bad man with lots of connection to Mexican gangs and I have a habit of getting kidnapped."

"So I've heard," he looked around again, took a deep breath of air before continuing on. "I love this planet. Where are we going again."

"There," I pointed to a mansion sitting on a hill at the top of the tiny seaside village. "Juan Morales, supposedly he supplies cars to drug traffickers." The Doctor went quiet so I found myself continuing on. "Where were you headed before my ship brought you down?"

"Pairs, 1889, the World's Fair to see the Eiffel tower," he told me and went all starry eyed. "I promised someone I would take them to see the tower but I never did."

"Lovely," I gave him a quick smile because he seemed sad about whoever he was supposed to go with. I'd spent enough time being mad at the world to know hurt that hides only just below the surface.

"You're taking this better than most humans do," he commented.

"I've seen stranger things than that, you should see the Bermuda Triangle. Now that was odd," I laughed. We were standing in front of the mansion so I wiped the smile off my face. I had to look hard and cold, I was Captain Jack after all. "Don't say anything," I warned him. "I don't want to get shot tonight."

We got stopped at the front gate where I flashed my driver's license at the guard. He told me he'd been ordered to take all my guns which was code for attempt to feel me up. Worst of all, he found all my guns, even the one taped to the inside of my tank top. "A lot of good your guns did." The Doctor smirked as we were lead into Juan's massive office.

"Shut up," I warned.

Juan was seated behind a large oak desk placed in the middle of the room. Behind him was a bookcase that went ceiling to floor and covered the whole of the wall. I didn't think half those books were real and the ones that were, he'd probably never read. A woman in a tight white miniskirt and halter top was seated next to him on a couch. I knew it wasn't his wife, but I wasn't surprised. The Doctor ignored her and kept his eyes on me, that surprised me more.

"Jack, you're late," Juan gestured to the two seats in front of his desk. "And you brought a guest."

"Don't ask," I waved my hand and slouched down into the chair like I was about to get scolded. "And I'm a day early."

Juan shrugged. He was older than he looked, by at least ten years. He regularly dyed his long hair black and slicked it with grease into a pony tail and he always wore a suit. Usually it was too big for him, but he apparently thought it made him look classy. It almost made me wished I'd brushed my hair today, or this week for that matter. "I heard a rumor."

"And what would that be?"

"You have a book, one that leads you to treasure," Juan smiled revealing his front two teeth to be gold.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said too quickly. He was too good at lying to fall for that one. I wondered who had passed along that information to him.

"You do Jack," he stood up and motioned to the girl. She followed by kept walking on heels I would have fallen on. When she had gone, Juan came up behind me. "Rumor has it," he said with his thick Spanish accent. "You've been making quite a bit of money using that book."

"They're lying to you."

"I read, I've seen the articles about the amazing Jacqueline D'Ambrosio who keeps donating her finds to various museums," he walked around me and picked up a knife from the book case behind his desk and held it between his hands. "So I think I'm being charged too much if you can afford to donate black market items."

"So I've found a couple of wrecks," I shrugged.

"Now you can either leave now with the down payment I gave you last week, or you can give me the book," he thought he had me cornered. They always thought they had me cornered.

I looked around the room and remembered how many guards we passed on the way here. At least six. I wished the Doctor hadn't come along. I took a breath and hoped he knew what I was going to do next. "I chose neither," I said suddenly and jammed my fist as hard as I could. "Come on!" I grabbed the Doctor's arm and pulled hoping I'd knocked Juan out. "I'll take this," I said pulling a Samurai sword off the wall where it had been proudly displayed.

By the time we'd made it out of the mansion and ran through half the town, I was exhausted. My knuckled were red and raw but I'd at least retrieved my revolver. I stopped about three blocks from the harbor and put my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath. The Doctor stopped beside me seeming to not be nearly as winded as I was. "You know, I could have talked us out of that."

"No you couldn't," I pointed a finger at him. "And I refuse to be kidnapped again. Juan wasn't going to let me go."

I stood up and slowly began the walk back to my ship. "Why did you take that sword? You didn't even use it."

"I'm not that brutal," I shook my head. "And this is worth a half million dollars."

"What was blabbing on about with that book?"

I'd hoped he hadn't heard that but apparently he did. "Nothing, it was nothing," he didn't look like he believed me. I must be getting worse at lying. "Come on, let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- The Doctor- 1889 Would Have Been Nice

Humans never ceased to confuse me. They were brutal and greedy but could be kind and innocent all in the same breath, children essentially. Take Jack for example. She could have taken anything out of that man's house to cover her costs, but she chose a sword and her gun. Yet she hadn't used either weapon on her way out. As soon we got back to the boat, she set sail, standing at the wheel, or helm I suppose, with the wind blowing through her hair looking every bit like a pirate. Not that I'd met many pirates.

"Where are we headed captain?" I asked her. She was leaning over the wheel, helm, resting both arms in between the spokes, one hand holding a bottle of what I presumed to be alcohol.

"We aren't headed anywhere," she said pointedly without really looking at me. Instead she was focused on the black water in front. The crew were scattering about checking masts and sails or whatever it is they're supposed to be doing. "I am heading east while you are getting off my ship."

"Any suggestions how I do that?" I asked her cautiously. I had seen her display all the qualities that sometimes disgusted me about humans about an hour ago.

"I don't know, you're the alien," she laughed. "There's a sentence I'd never thought I'd say."

"See, the problem is that the TARDIS doesn't seem to want to budge. I told you there's something on your boat keeping it here," I tried to explain. The only part of the boat I hadn't explored was her cabin and I had a feeling that's where I needed to check.

"Ship," she corrected me. "The Sunset Ambrosia is a ship. It would like me calling your whatsit a, a," she trailed off.

"Whatsit?" I suggested. She turned and smiled before turning back to the water. I wondered how she knew where she was going in the dark with no bearings or if she was just winging it as she went along. "That man mentioned a book that leads you to treasure."

"There's no book," she said quickly.

"It might be what's keeping me here," I pointed out.

"There's no book," she repeated.

"If it's alien, I might have just been passing through its temporal field and the TARDIS latched on, thought it could be dangerous."

"It's not alien."

"Ha! So there is a book. I want to see this book," I could feel my smile widen. She, on the other hand, didn't look so happy.

She pulled her arms off the wheel and turned on me, ice in her eyes. "There is no book and if you and your TARDIS aren't off my ship by tomorrow morning, I will throw you out into the middle of the Atlantic," she warned and stormed off slamming the doors to her cabin so hard I thought surely the glass would break.

I spent most of the night watching the crew work. Joey had warned me to stop asking them questions before someone knifed me. I asked him what that meant so he showed me the eight inch knife he carried in his boot so I figured that was a bad thing and sat on the deck near the wheel watching them scurry about. After a while, they slowed and went below deck. Joey warned me not to touch anything and pointed to the navigation room where there was a man watching me.

"He will shoot you," Joey pointed. "I'll be downstairs though if you need anything." He started for the stairs when Jack's cabin door opened. She stumbled out and nearly fell down the stairs to the galley. I jumped up to help her but Joey stopped me. "If you value your manhood, I wouldn't. She's even more temperamental when she's been drinking."

"And how do you know her?"

"Her dad used to own the boat I worked on, he died in an accident and I promised I would watch after Jack," he paused as she stumbled back up the stairs and into her room. "But only when she lets me."

He was a good man, I could tell that. One who had seen too much in his life though. He patted my shoulder before heading down below. I sat in my spot for a good while watching the stars above pass by naming them all in my head before I decided Jack had tired herself out and crept up to her doors. She hadn't locked them or anything and they swung open without as much as a creak.

Her cabin was cleaner than I thought it would be. There were no piles of dirty clothes or discarded bottles. A large desk set up against the wall near the door while a matching armoire sat across from it. Her bed was big, too big for just her. It was dark oak with big posts on all sides. Jack was fast asleep with one arm across her face and the other resting on her stomach covered by a white blanket. I hadn't seen this part of the boat from the outside so I hadn't realized there was a bank of windows along the south side of the ship spilling moonlight across the floor of the cabin. The book was easy to find, it was sitting out on her desk. I looked back at her once watching her breathing steadily before I tiptoed over to the desk. The cover was bound leather, old leather, almost blacked from time with thick green stitching holding it all together. The simple on the front was a series of circles closely spaced. I ran my hand over the etched symbol racking my brain. Dozens of species of aliens ran through my head all at once scouring the corners of my mind. I started to open it when I heard a metallic click behind me. I turned to find Jack sitting up in her bed aiming her gun at my head.

"Get out now," she said gruffly and I realized I hadn't notice until now she was only wearing a tank top.

I paced in front of the TARDIS until she came out wearing the same cutoff shorts and long sweater from earlier. "Sit," she instructed to the edge of the boat. I didn't see her gun but she was carrying her bottle again.

"Are you going to push me into the ocean?" I asked her.

"I have a feeling it wouldn't do much good," she sat down next to me and took a long swig of the alcohol before offering it to me. I shook my head no and she shrugged. "My dad told me once that to be a good captain, your crew had to fear you. That's why you can't stay," she said and looked out at the water again. "You don't fear me and you proved that tonight."

"Where did you get that book?"

She ignored me and kept staring at the water. "Do you hear something?" She asked and I strained my ears. I could hear a faint humming but didn't think anything of it. Jack stood up on the railing and looked out. Before I had time to think the humming turned into a roar and a net was thrown over both of us. Then I was in the water and there was shouting and a man hit me in the face once he pulled the net out. Everything went black from there.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Jack- Kidnapped yet again

My head hurt when I woke up and for one brief, happy moment, I thought I was just hung over. Then I tried to move my hands and realized they were tied together and above my head. I opened my eyes slowly letting them adjust to being open again. My left eye was swollen damn near shut and it hurt to breath. More importantly, the Doctor was slumped over across from me with his head down towards his chest. I inched as far forward as I could manage and ignored the pain in my ribs and pointed my right leg out until my foot rested on his chest. His heart was still beating. Thank god, I didn't think I could live with losing another man on my ship. "Hey!" I yelled at him and rubbed at his chest with my foot. That's when I noticed something off. He had another heart beat. I slid my foot to the other side of his chest and sure enough, second heart beat.

"Your feet stink," the Doctor groaned and pulled his head up.

"You have two heart beats, why do you have two heart beats?"

"I have two hearts," he said simply and looked around. I noticed they hadn't tied him up or anything. I must just be special.

"Right, explains it," I nodded. "You're bleeding." His nose seemed to be slowly seeping blood still and he had a nasty bump on his head but it wasn't getting any bigger, in fact it looked like it was getting a little smaller.

"You should talk," he slid across the dirty wood floor until he was right in front of me. "Anything broken?"

"I don't think so, maybe a rib or two," I admitted. He put his hand to the side of my face to check my eye. "You're not a real doctor."

"Not the kind you're used to," he dabbed at the cut near my left eye with his sleeve before he sat back. I hadn't seen him this serious since he landed, even when we had all those guns pointed at him. "Any idea where we are?"

"Nope, I've made a few enemies over the years," I said sheepishly. "The list is quite long."

He did crack a grin at me but it was short lived as the door to the tiny, windowless room swung open. "Ah, you're awake finally."

"Oh damn it," I cursed. William Bartholomew, or Sir William as he was known to my set, was standing in front of me in pressed linen khaki pants and an expensive button up white shirt. He looked clean, put together, honest, all things I knew he wasn't. He was a notorious corporate raider, rumored to own half the Gulf Coast, property, people and all. More importantly, I had torched his house two years ago after he stole my best friend.

"Jacqueline, that's not polite language for a proper lady," he scolded.

"Screw you."

"Tsk tsk," he wagged a finger in my face. I tried to kick out but he stepped back and I nearly hit the Doctor instead. "I have a proposal for you that I wish to speak with about over dinner." Another man walked in and set two piles of clothes down on the floor. "You're to be dressed in twenty minutes." The man unlocked my cuffs and my arms fell numbly down as gravity finally claimed them. Sir William looked me over once more before he walked back out locked the door behind him.

"What's wrong with my suit?" The Doctor asked looking at his pinstriped, bloody mess. He noticed I wasn't smiling at his attempt joke. "Friend of yours?"

"I think he means to kill me this time," I said softly. "And I just had to bring you into it too."

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door before it was unlocked again. We both dressed, in separate corners with me threatening to beat him to death with his shoe if he looked over. He had been given a tux, which he was now fiddling with, while I got stuck in a slinky red dress that was too low cut and had a train, it was that long. We were brought out into the night and I had to wonder if Joey was freaking out at me being gone for one whole day. Probably was beating the guy he'd left in control of the navigation room. We were seated at a long table towards one end, the Doctor across from me with Sir William meant to sit in between us. I, of course, was handcuffed to the chair.

"Who's your new friend," Sir William asked me as soon as the first course was brought out, clam chowder, not my favorite.

"No one," I lied.

"I thought you were seeing that handsome man, friend of your brothers," Sir William pointed out to make sure I knew he was keeping tabs on me.

"Didn't last more than a few weeks," I gave him a forced smile. "Why am I here?"

"Straight to business," Sir William grinned. I was glad the Doctor wasn't saying anything, just sniffing his soup. "I want your help."

"Funny way of showing that," the Doctor said and I sunk my head a little. "Locking her in a tiny room with one light bulb."

"I wasn't giving her the choice," Sir William said with another bright smile. "She either helps me freely or I will beat her until she gives up."

"Oh boy, something to look forward to," I forced another smile. The two men were glaring at each other ignoring me wholly. Somehow, that was going to end with my face getting smashed in. "What do you need my help on."

"You have the book and the lockets," he said simply. "I want you to take me to the Oracle."

"What Oracle."

"The Oracle of Delphi."

The Doctor snorted. "That didn't really exist and if it did, it was destroyed around 320 AD."

I was silent mostly because I knew it was real. I'd found that page already. "You know where it is don't you Jack?" Sir William asked.

"No," I sneered at him. "And if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell you."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8- The Doctor- Ah, the Mystery Deepens

We were brought back to the tiny room not too long after Jack annoyed this Sir William. I didn't like him much. He just radiated evil. "I'm putting my clothes back on," Jack informed me as soon as they'd left. They hadn't tied her back up again. She said it was probably because she wasn't going to stay here much longer.

"I quite like that dress," I pointed out. She rolled her eyes and turned her back to me. It was the first time I had noticed the scars. She had a thin line running from the base of her neck across her right shoulder blade and down her arm nearly to the elbow. There were two round marks on her left shoulder about a half inch in diameter, gunshots I assumed. Yet she seemed so delicate.

"Stop staring at me and turn around."

"Yes Captain," I looked away from her and to the wall. "I quite like my tuxedo although usually something bad happens when I wear a tuxedo. Or maybe it's just mine."

"You can't turn around now," she said. She was wearing her shorts and the white tank top, the sweater lying in a heap in the corner. "Do you always talk this much?"

"It's what I'm best at," I sat down next to her. "What's in that book of yours?"

"Everything," she said quietly. She leaned her head down and rested it on my shoulder. "How's the bump on your head?"

My hand went to my head to the slight bump I hadn't really thought about until she'd pointed it out. "Fine, barely noticed it. Jack, where did you get that book?"

"I found it," she said with a yawn. "In a sunken boat."

"Yes, but how?" I asked but she had already fallen asleep.

I don't know how it had happened, but somehow in the middle of the night, I had laid down using Jack's sweater as a pillow, but I pulled her down with me. I woke to the door being opened and two men looking down on us, Jack resting her head on my chest with one of my arms around her. "Look how cute," the uglier of the two said. "Grab her." And with that, Jack was pulled roughly off me shaking her awake.

"Get him too," the first one said and pulled me to my feet.

"I think you'll find, there is a diplomatic way to resolve this," I told the two as they pulled us along, Jack struggling the whole time of course.

"Let go of me!" She yelled and clocked the one holding her right in between the eyes.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he said shoving her down into a chair in another small, poorly lit room. I was shoved down into another chair across from her and we were both tied by the arms. Sir William came in and stood in the door way. The first man held up a rod for Jack to see.

"What's that?" I asked him.

"Cattle prod," Sir William answered before he walked over to Jack. "Tell me where the Oracle is."

"No," she gritted through her teeth. Sir William waved his hand and the rod was pressed into Jack's abdomen. She jumped and grinded her teeth together even more but she didn't scream.

"Tell me where the book and your ship are." Sir William looked amused.

"No," Jack spat at him and the rod was pressed against her again, this time longer. Jack convulsed and let out a screech this time. She slumped forward when they pulled the rod back.

"Jack, you know I have bigger toys than this," another rod was brought in except this one seemed to be attached to a large battery. It was switched on and I could see the blue sparks fly off of it. "Tell me something."

Jack shook her head and Sir William started forward. I couldn't take watching this anymore. "Stop!" I yelled at him. "I know where she's hiding the book."

Sir William looked at me debating what to do. He switched the battery off and turned to his men. "Take Jack back to her room. This man and I have business to discuss."

I was led topside where the sun was out and nearly blinding. Sir William took me to the control room of his boat and we sat down among all the levers and controls. "You never told me your name." He said as we sat down.

"You never asked," I returned and slid my sonic screwdriver out of my sleeve. The wiring to the boat was easy enough to figure out from here. "It's the Doctor by the way."

Sir William looked me over and decided not to ask about the name. Probably better that way. "You said you know where she's got the book?"

"Yup," I leaned back in the chair to conceal that I was slowly demolishing his boat with my screwdriver. "It's on the Sunset Ambrosia."

"Yes, I knew that."

"Which is parked at 76 degrees 18 minutes longitude and 34 2 minutes latitude." I had no idea where that was but it sounded good and I had finished my job.

"That's impossible, that's too far from here."

"You said she has the book," I shrugged. That wasn't what he wanted to hear and I was immediately taken back to the dark little room.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9- Jack- Escape Plots

I lost consciousness sometime after the car battery had been taken away but before they brought the Doctor back. I woke up in the tiny room with one light bulb with him staring at me. It wasn't fair that you could hardly tell he'd gotten whacked in the face a few times yesterday. I'm sure I'm a mess. I ran my hand through my hair feeling it was more matted than usual and caked with blood on one side. "What are you staring at?" I asked him and tried my best to sit up.

"Oh nothing," he looked up at the ceiling but his eyes slowly came back to me. "You don't look so hot."

"Gee thanks for noticing."

"It's just, your head," he scooted forward. I'd managed to get upright but my ribs hurt and my head was killing me not to mention the burns on my belly. "What about the rest of you?"

"No," I lied. "I've had worse." That was mostly true. Just three weeks ago, I spent the better part of one day hanging upside down from a mast. Steal one container of black market paintings and that's cause for kidnapping.

As if he could read my thoughts, the Doctor asked me, "what makes you and Sir William different?"

"He steals from innocent people while I steal from the people that steal from innocent people," I said confusing even myself. "I steal from the bad guys. And I don't freight drugs or guns or anything like that like he does if that's where you're going. Plus I would never kidnap someone just to gain wealth."

He looked at me for a moment before he slid only a few inches from my face. He was staring into my eyes like he could see straight into my soul. "You love your friends and whats left of your family," he stated. "You try and convince the people around you of that but you're a softie." He slipped back a bit but was grinning that same stupid grin.

"Wow, you got me," I said with a roll of my eyes. Even that hurt. "You know all my secrets now."

"No," he corrected me. "There's just the one left." He was about to ask me about the book. I knew it from the look on his face but the door opened and a dress was thrown at me. The Doctor was still in his tux looking mostly dapper, well as fresh as someone who been wearing the same things for twenty-four hours straight could. We were ordered to dinner.

I'd been given a black dress this time. It was shorter, cut around my ankles like Sir William had noticed I was about a half foot shorter than normal people. I almost liked it until I got it on and realized the criss-crossing straps were sparkly, like shiny sparkly. "You look nice, I like this one better than the red one." The Doctor commented as we were led back to the dining room.

"Don't say anything tonight," I warned him ignoring the dress comment. "I have a plan to get us out of here." I didn't need him screwing it up.

"Me too," he said with a bright smile.

I looked at him with my mouth open. I was the captain after all, I was supposed to be the one to come up with the plans. Before I could ask him what exactly his plan entailed, Sir William entered the room. He was dressed in black slacks with a navy smoking jacket. It was much too warm outside for that. I could tell we were still somewhere near Mexico and given the lack of wind, pretty close to land.

"Jack," he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. I jerked my head away as quickly as I could mange. He sat down next to me tonight across from the Doctor which fit into my plan better than I thought it would. He hadn't handcuffed me either.

The appetizers, some sort of seafood wrap type deal, were brought out before Sir William spoke again. "I hope you've given some thought to my proposal Jack."

"I'm not telling you anything about the book," I said sharply. The Doctor raised his eyebrows to me but he thankfully kept quiet.

"We both know I have many, many ways to torture you. I'd rather not because I think with the right training, you could make a fine woman," Sir William explained. I tried not to gag. "We could share the treasures that book holds."

"I'll try my luck with the torture," I forced a smile at him but my right hand picked up my fork and slipped it under the table. He was far too full of himself to even think of placing guards inside the room. He, of all people, should know I was too dangerous to be left alone.

"Have it your way," Sir William smiled back and turned to his own plate. I took a swig of the wine placed in front of me as he continued on. "I'd hoped you would see things my way. I'd respected your father when he was alive even though he was a foolish man. You have more of him in you than I'd expected," he turned back to me suddenly. "I will find your ship and the book and then I'll blow it out the water with your crew onboard just like you did to my house."

I kept my eyes on his. "Did you know it took me five minutes to burn your house down?" I asked loving the way his face turned beat red in seconds. "That's all it took. You, on the other hand, will be looking a very long time for my ship." I smiled at him and jammed the fork as hard as I could into his thigh. "Come on!" I yelled to the Doctor and we both jumped up.

"Sir William's had a heart attack!" I screamed at the men standing by the door. They rushed past us and into the dining room. I hiked up the side of my dress and took off running down the long hallway as fast as I could in my heels. Once we got to the top of the stairs and could see actual moonlight, I looked around for a life raft or something floatable. I spotted more guys coming towards us instead. Okay, so I hadn't thought about this part so much.

"Umm," My eyes darted around for an escape. "The water!" I ran to the edge and started climbing over the railing. The Doctor stood back looking at me like I was nuts. I'm quite used to that look but I'd never in a million years thought I'd been getting it from an alien. "Land isn't too far from here and it's either that or stick around to see how pissed Sir William is." Before I could finish my sentence, shots started to ring out through the air. The goons had figured out I had stabbed Sir William and had apparently been told to just kills us. The Doctor didn't waste much time and we both jumped over the edge of the boat into the dark water below. We got about fifty feet from the boat before we stopped swimming.

"That was your plan?" The Doctor sputtered at me.

"I didn't say it was a good plan," I splashed back at him. "And anyways, where's your brilliant idea?"

He looked back to the boat, still slowly treading water. "I don't know, I must've timed it wrong." The boat let out a low rumble and then a small explosion rocked the back end. "There we go," he turned to me again. "Simple one propeller system, one little tweak to the control room and they'll be going in circles for days. Problem is, we're in the water with no way of knowing where land is."

"This way," I shook my head and started swimming.

It took twenty minutes of hard paddling to get to the rocky shore. The Doctor collapsed onto the beach but I stood and looked about some more. In the distance I could see the lights flicker and fade on Sir William's boat. I had to admit, the Doctor's plan had probably been a better one. "Come on, we can't stay here."

"I rather like it here," he argued and put his hands behind his head. I hadn't noticed really, or at least thought about it until now, but he was quite handsome. Too skinny though. And the whole alien thing.

I started to walk away from him but he caught up to me in a few strides. "Right, where are we headed?"

"North," I said shortly and looked back up to the sky. "Joey'll be waiting there. At least he will be if he has any desire to see next week."

"And how do you know where north is? And where are we meeting him?"

I sighed and stopped. "I don't like technology so I use the stars as a map and Joey knows to go to the nearest big port," I explained. He was still looking at me. "It must kill you to not be the one with the answers. I'm guessing that doesn't happen much."

"No," he was quiet again. He slipped off his tux coat and draped it over my shoulders. "How do you know where the nearest port is?"

I laughed at him. "Just can't let it go can you?" I looked up at him in the moonlight with a perplexed look on his face. "While you were busy complaining about the swim, I saw a sign that pointed towards Veracruz, that would be nearest to where we were before Sir William grabbed us."

"What's in your book?"

"Every mystery known to man." It was just that simple. "Seven hundred pages of answers from how the pyramids were built to the location of Atlantis."

"Hmm," he stared off trying to work out how my book worked.

"Do you always travel alone?" I asked him sick of the silence and to avoid any more questions about my book.

"Not always but it's just," he paused and looked back up to the sky, "safer that way. I'm always putting them into danger, anyone around me." He looked over at me. "Except you apparently."

"Yeah, I have a way about me," I laughed.

"What did you do to him?"

"I stole a locket so he stole my best friend so I blew up his house with him still in it," I shrugged.

"Some locket."

I didn't tell him the locket I took was one of the keys to reading the book but I could feel his mind getting closer to that conclusion. "Do you ever get lonely?"

"Sometimes," he admitted. "I'm the last of my kind."

"I thought that too," I said. "Last of the pirates, last of my family. Until I found my brother." He gave me a polite smile that said he thought I didn't know what I was talking about. "You never know, I found him on a planet populated with a couple of billion people. There's a while universe out there so there could be someone like you out there."

"That's what I'm afraid," he said so softly I almost couldn't hear him. I'm sure that was his point.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- Jack- No One Wants to Meet a Mythological Creature

We walked into the better part of the morning, passing through little villages made of mud huts where people stopped and looked out at the two visitors in formal clothing. The Doctor greeted them all with that smile of his. I knew better. I didn't have my gun and it didn't take much to say the wrong thing to the wrong person in Mexico. Also, I have really bad luck and didn't want to end up kidnapped again. It was starting to get old. Sir William had spies everywhere not to mention the drug gangs. By close to noon, we'd made it to Veracruz. The Sunset Ambrosia was parked right in the middle of the docks, black sails fluttering slightly in the breeze. She looked a little scary, but that's how I wanted it. I had found my ship off the coast of Africa thanks to trying to figure out the locket my dad had given me. She'd been a pirate ship at one point but I dragged her up off the ocean floor, replaced most of the boards, added a few solar powered engines and propellers and she was as good as new.

After two days of torture and then walking all night, I had never been so happy to see me ship as I was standing on the dock looking up at her. "Home sweet home," I mumbled and walked up the plank.

"Captain!" Joey greeted me with a smile, then he frowned realizing I probably wasn't happy that they hadn't found me but I'd walked here all my own. "I was just about to send a second search party out for you."

"Call them back, we need to set sail now, head east and then we need to talk," I gave him a stern look and marched off towards my cabin. The Doctor followed me and I cursed my short legs for not being able to carry me quicker.

I sat down at my desk and picked up a bottle of vodka and took a long swig of it. "Did you know alcohol only dehydrates you further," the Doctor pointed out.

"Did you know I could throw you overboard without breaking a sweat?" I retorted. "Leave." I pointed to the door.

He sat down in the chair next to me and folded his arms across his chest. "Tell me more about this book. How did you find it?"

"It's not what's keeping you here." I said taking another gulp. I didn't like being on land, especially knowing Sir William wasn't too far behind and mad as a hornet. It wasn't until we were moving again that I started to feel more at ease. I ignored the Doctor as best I could until Joey walked in and sat down in the purple loveseat next to my desk.

"How far east are we going?" He asked me.

"Until I say stop," I sighed and looked at the Doctor. "Shouldn't you be getting in your little blue box and leaving?"

"Can't," he reminded me, "besides, this is far more interesting right now."

Joey turned back to me completely ignoring the Doctor. "What happened, Jack and who's following us?"

"Sir William but I think the Doctor disabled him enough to set him off course for a few days, he wants the Oracle of Delphi." I said softly.

"That's impossible, how could he find it?"

"If he chases us, he's still after the book but I have a feeling it won't take him long to find out it's location without it," I sighed again and took a drink and passed the bottle on to Joey.

"What's this Oracle of Delphi?" The Doctor asked like it was some great big adventure. "An uncharted island? Priceless piece of jewelry?"

"No, _the_ Oracle of Delphi," I rubbed at my eyes and felt the instant pain of a black eye forming. "A prophet dating back to ancient Greece."

"I know that Oracle," the Doctor snapped, "but it's not real."

"Tell her that," I rolled my eyes and turned to Joey. "It's been fourteen hours since we escaped. He hasn't found the Sunset Ambrosia yet so I'm willing to bet he's got people scouring the history books looking for the location. I say we go warn her."

"No," Joey said strongly. Very rarely did he ever disagree with me but when he did, it wasn't fun. He had that parental look on his face, the one my mom used to give me before she stopped speaking to me. "The last time we tangled with Sir William, half the crew ended up dead and he had Ellie for a week."

"I know," I looked at him feeling the anger flare up. It had been my fault Ellie, my best friend, had been kidnapped and ten of my crew members, friends, had been killed. I didn't need any more reminders. "but if he gains control of the Oracle, he'll control the future. I can't let him do that."

Joey glared at me for a moment before he stood up, tipping the bottle of vodka nearly over in the process. "I won't let you die because of that book, not after what it did to your dad."

"I'm the Captain of this ship and you are still a crewman," I yelled right back. "I'm not asking you to fight him, I just need to get close enough to her." He gritted his teeth before he threw his hands up in the air and stormed out.

I'd kicked the Doctor out of my cabin and washed m hair out as best I could. The rich, iron smell of blood still cling to the ends but I'd tried to get some of the tangles out. I'd put on a clean pair of jeans, well as clean as they got for not returning to my house in Northern California for nearly three months, and a black tank top. I picked up the book, the two lockets, one from my father and the one I'd nicked from Sir William, a notebook and pen, and a fresh bottle of rum and headed out to the middle of the deck. It was close to one in the morning so most of the crew had gone to bed leaving me alone to work. I set the notebook out to a blank page and took a drink. I knew what page the Oracle was on, I'd only translated a few sentence though.

"Do you ever sleep?" The Doctor asked. He thought he'd caught me off guard, but I knew he was there.

"Nope, I'm beginning to think the same of you too," I said and looked up to the sky. It was a clear night, bright moon and everything, perfect weather for deciphering the book.

"What are you doing?" He asked and sat down beside me crossing his legs Indian style. I'd given up on trying to get anything out of him while we were walking. He wouldn't give me his real name or where he was from.

"Trying to figure out where we're going." I said flipping open the book. I opened the first locket, the one my dad had found in a ship wreck off the Italian coast, and held it up checking to make sure the tiny diamonds sparkled just right. I snapped it shut and set it on the left of the book.

The Doctor looked over the book and then the lockets. "How does it work?"

"I want to find the Oracle of Delphi," I said out loud. He started to open his mouth to repeat his question when I looked over to him, "the lockets need something to guide them to the key." I said and opened my dad's locket it again. The diamonds had shifted about inside. The other one gleamed as I opened it as well.

"My dad thought the locket he found was a map, one that you could only see in the moonlight but every time we matched up one star, the next night the locket rearranged itself so that nothing fit," I explained. "Until I found the book and Sir William's locket." I ran my hand over the page of the book and then to the lockets. The book was filled with letters, nothing but letters on each page, left to right without spacing. The Doctor looked over at the book but didn't say anything. "You read it starting on the left page, top row and then straight across to the right page lining up with the diamonds on each locket. My dad's is the left page, Sir William's is the right."

The Doctor left me in peace while I worked but he watched me carefully, every pen stroke and ever scrutinizing look I gave those lockets. "We're heading to Jamaica." I told him and slammed the book shut.

"Not where I would have expected the Oracle of Delphi to be since it's not, well, Delphi nor Greece even," the Doctor frowned. He still didn't believe we were going to find the O racle, either that or he just plain didn't believe in the Oracle. "Joey doesn't think you should go."

"And you agree with him?"

"I don't know this Sir William, but he's a bad man," the Doctor said, another fact I didn't need anyone to point out. "Maybe you should give up that book and run."

"My father died when he got caught in a storm, mast fell on his ship and crushed his spine. The last thing he said to me once they got him on land was to take care of the locket because it holds the whole of my world, everything that has been, everything that will be, and it will guide me. I'm still discovering what that means but I can't give it up," I looked at him. "I've lost so much because of it but I know there's more out there, something in that book I'm not meant to find yet but will determine the rest of my days."

He sat in silence looking at the design on the binding of the book before he finally said something. "I think that's what's keeping the TARDIS here. There's something alien about all of it."

"It's not alien," I laughed.

"Oh yeah, a book that holds all of Earth's mysteries can't be alien."

"That's just it, Earth's mysteries. Why would anyone from another planet take interest enough in us to keep tabs on all of our history?" I asked him and looked at him in the moonlight. He jutted his chin out and looked up at the stars. His eyes were a little watery and I could tell he was thinking of someone else, the one who got away.

"We all have our reasons," he said softly. I leaned over and gave him a quick hug and rested my head on his shoulder glad he didn't push away from me.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11- The Doctor- Oracles…Meh

Jack was still insisting on going to the Oracle the next morning. Joey had given up on trying to tell her different. I had other plans. I scoured the TARDIS until I found the book I was looking for and took it down to her. "Jack, this book says the Oracle of Delphi wasn't real. In the year 2076, extensive excavations to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi will prove the Oracle was just a priest or priestess who jabbered about. All nonsense."

"Let me see that book," she said standing up on her tiptoes to get a glimpse. I held it higher and read from the page, "the investigating archaeology discovered the temple to be built over a natural gas fault filling the temple with noxious fumes that caused hallucinations." I slammed the book shut and tucked it under my arm.

Jack looked up at me, her blonde hair tangled wildly around her head despite the tie she had attempted to put it in. "For starters, I don't believe that book and secondly, you can't know what's going to happen in the future."

"I'm a Time Lord," I reminded her easily. "My TARDIS can move through time and space. I bought this book some seventy years ago on a future version of Earth." She was still looking at me with a brutally confused look on her face. "That blue box can back and forth in time."

She shut her mouth and raised an eyebrow at me. "That's it," she threw her hands in the air. "I'm throwing your ass off my ship," she said and started to walk towards her cabin.

"Jack, if you'd just listen to reason," I followed her tucking the book under my arm. She was digging through a chest when I walked into her cabin. "What are you doing?"

"I know there's a net in here somewhere," she muttered and kept digging.

"Right," I sat down at her desk watching her. She was small enough to almost fall into the chest. "I met an oracle once," she looked up at me briefly before rolling her eyes and going back to the chest. "By the end of this century, archaeologists will have proven all major oracles to be hallucinations from various environmental issues mixed with a fanatical belief in their gods."

"And your book tells you this?"

"Yup," I patted the book lightly. _The Complete History of Earth so Far, 67__th__ Edition_ was one of my all time favorite purchases.

"Let me see it then."

"Can't," I said. She started digging faster. "Can't let you see the future, too many spoilers in my book."

"But it's okay for you to look," she glared over at me.

"Time Lord," I said simply. "The Oracle of Delphi wasn't even that accurate. That's why the Romans destroyed the temple."

"No, they destroyed it because Christianity told them those who believed in the Greek and Roman gods were pagans." She stood up with a smile, holding a large net. It was my turn to look slightly surprised. "I'm more educated than you think. College degree and everything."

"I didn't say you weren't."

"There's more to this world than you understand," she told me and opened the net. "Now, you're going to leave."

I stood up as she came at me with the net. Sure, she was tiny but I'd seen her punch at least seven guys unconscious since meeting her. "I don't know what your book says you're going to find there, but it surely won't be the Oracle of Delphi. There's no way a cult of that nature could still be thriving especially in this part of the world."

Jack let out an exasperated sigh and brushed past me dropping the net in her wake. She stopped in front of the helm and took a compass out of the pocket of her beige cargo pants. She checked it once and hollered up to the navigation room, "I'm taking a detour!"

"Where are we going?" I asked her feeling that same, old feeling of flying without a plan. The excitement built in my brain as I watched her turn the wheel sharply. The boat tugged and rocked in the water, the waves bucking against the wood hull, but it turned.

"I have something to show you," Jack said gruffly.

An hour later we had stopped a couple of hundred feet from an island. Jack stood on the railing looking out to lush, green of the island. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder. I approached her carefully. "Where are we now?"

"Middle of the gulf of Mexico," she said not looking down at me. "Come on," she held her hand out until I was standing next to her. "I told you I was going to throw you off my ship," she laughed and pushed my shoulder until I was flying through the air. I hit the water confused until I saw another splash. I resurfaced and found Jack floating about like this was normal.

"More swimming?" I asked. She grinned and turned and headed to the island.

We got to the beach panting, well I was panting. She seemed to be perfectly fine. "You don't swim much do you?"

"No, not much need for it," I admitted. She rung her hair out with both hands and pushed the backpack onto her shoulder again. I hadn't noticed until now that she was carrying a machete. "What's that for?"

"Don't worry, there's no people here," she grinned and headed into the underbrush. We walked in silence for a while, her slashing at the green leaves blocking our path until she stopped so abruptly, I nearly tripped over her. "Shh," she whispered and pointed ahead. We poked our heads through the ferns in front and I found myself looking at a lake surrounded by dinosaurs. They were long, scaly beast with necks longer than a giraffe. Some were drinking from the water while others were lounging lazily in the sun.

"This isn't right," I muttered to myself.

"I know," Jack looked at me, watching the surprise on my face. "The book calls it 'The Forgotten Island.' It's in some sort of time lock that keeps it from aging."

I looked back at her, impressed that she'd said time lock without any real knowledge of the meaning. I thought maybe I'd fallen through time when not paying attention, but Jack was still standing next to me reminding me we were in the year 2010 and they certainly didn't have dinosaurs there.

"This is why I believe the book. It shows all the weird things you never thought could exist," she said.

"Your book is definitely alien."

She laughed and I found myself laughing with her like she had spread an infection through me. She stopped suddenly and looked around. "I think we should be leaving now."

"Why?"

"Feeding time," she whispered and pulled what looked like a flare out of her backpack.

I looked back at the pond seeing half the dinosaurs on alert. Whatever Jack had heard, they heard too. I turned away and started to follow Jack as quietly as I could. Then I heard it. The light rumble under my feet. It grew louder as Jack tried to hurry us along but the brush was thick and she struggled to re-clear the path made not more than twenty minutes ago. I wasn't worried until the rumbling stopped. Jack looked back at me and for the first time since I met her, she looked worried. I'd seen her get beaten within an inch of her life and not look scared. I tried not to breath but it found us anyways. A big, reptilian snout poked out of the tree and took a whiff at us. I'd never seen a tyrannosaurus rex up close and personal and now I remembered why. He was tall with short arms and long teeth all bared at us.

Jack very slowly broke the end of the flare igniting the red fire at one end. She held it straight out and started waving it at the rex. "Get out!" She yelled at it until he turned and ran away. "Now we leave," she said and took off running. Swimming I was bad at, running not so much. We were back at the beach and in the water.

"Funny thing about the t-rex," she grinned at me. "They don't like fire or loud women. Bet your history book doesn't say that," she laughed and started swimming back towards the boat.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Jack- Good to Know Someone Cares

I stayed at the helm, guiding the ship through the water, until well after the sun had set that night. Once I was sure we were on the right track, I handed my job off to one of the night watchmen and sat down on the edge of the railing at the front of the ship. I loved sitting there, watching the water pass underneath me while everyone else slept. The Sunset Ambrosia had been with me for so long, she felt like another part of my body. She was home. I owned a house in Northern California, currently inhabited by my best friend Ellie and her fiancé, also known as my long lost brother, yet I never felt right on land. No matter how much I'd tried, I never quite fit in unless I was out on the water. Even before I found my ship, I would go out on my dad's fishing boat when I was a child. I'd spend whole summers with him and his crew and that meant more than one whole year on land with my mother and school and society. Then she found out he was running illegal cargo and that stopped.

I knew he was standing behind me, watching me and probably wondering if I was drunk enough to fall off the edge of the ship. He stood for probably five minutes before I said something. "Are you going to talk to me or just be creepy?"

"How did you know I was here?" The Doctor asked.

I looked behind me. He was leaning against the forward mast, one leg across the other. He'd changed back into a blue pinstripe suit. The other had been left aboard Sir William's ship in a bloody mess in the room with one light bulb. "This is my ship, I know everything that happens on it."

He gave a little laugh and then pushed off the mast. He heaved himself up next to me letting his feet dangle next to mind, his in his red sneakers while mine were bare. "How long until we get there?"

I looked up at the sky for a minute. "Probably in the afternoon unless I turn the engines all the way up. We're looking for a small island near Jamaica." I told him. He was the second person I'd told this information to. In fact, most of the crew didn't know exactly where we were going other than racing Sir William to some undisclosed location. I wasn't sure how to tell them we were looking for something that existed in ancient Greece.

"Any way I can talk you out of this?" He asked.

"Nope," I said easily. "I'd like to think the Oracle wouldn't work with him, but Sir William is very persuasive and if he could see into the future, he would destroy the earth."

The Doctor nodded his head and he was quiet for a while. "Do you have a plan once you get there?"

"The book says there will be a gate keeper. Pass his test and I get to move onto the Oracle herself," I explained.

"What test?" He turned to me. I could tell he still thought my book was alien, like it couldn't possibly have been crafted by humans.

"Doesn't really say," I told him. "The only thing it says is that if you fail, you die."

"Hmm," he was still looking at me. "Doesn't really sound like a fair test."

"It's actually quite genius," I smiled because I knew more about the book than he did. Every page I turned seemed like it was made for me. I never went in the order the book was written in but instead flipping page to page, yet the book had helpful hints. In one, it told me to avoid coming into the Bermuda triangle from the west. In another it told me to avoid a trip to Siberia at the end of fall because winter sometimes came early. Had I tried that page in the middle of October like I'd planned, we would have run right into an ice jam. On the matter of the Oracle, the book said I would pass the test when the time was right. "If you can't pass the test, the gate keeper gets to kill you and keep the Oracle a secret."

"Yes, genius, and barbaric."

"That's what we are though, us humans," I said poetically. "We kill each other just to make a few bucks and improve our own lives. I should know," I laughed and thought about all the men who had fallen to my own guns or cannons or baseball bat. I'd justified them as kill or be killed but they were still dead none the less.

"That's why I have to stop him," I shook my head and forced a smile onto my face hoping it would chase away the bad thoughts, the ones that reminded me why I drank so much. "I've done a lot of bad in my life, but I can at least help with this."

"That's very noble of you," he said with a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice.

"It's not, but thanks," I spun around and let my feet hit the wooden planks. He slowly turned around the watch me. "I should be getting some sleep." I said but stayed in front of him. "Any luck with getting your box off my ship?"

"None," he looked troubled by that thought and I got the feeling that he wasn't used to being confused by things. He was out of his element on my ship with my human worries. "I'm going to try reversing the thrusters in the morning."

"Okay, have a good night," I turned to leave but stopped suddenly. I don't know what came over me but I walked back over to him and kissed him on the lips. He seemed stunned at first but closed his eyes and kissed me back. For a brief second, I could feel how lonely and broken hearted he was but then I worried that he could feel the same within me and backed off.

"Sorry," I muttered to him. "Just figured I should kiss someone in case tomorrow is my last day in this world and well, you've met my crew. They aren't the cleanest group of people."

The next day, I woke up at the crack of dawn and helped the crew clean and make a few repairs. I didn't see the Doctor anywhere, but his blue box was still parked in the middle of my deck. I let him be and went about gathering my things up the closer we got to the island.

The island itself was easy enough to find, something that surprised most of us. It wasn't on any map, protected by something a little higher than human authority. The book had given me specific directions turning against the wind and going the opposite direction of the island, then a sharp turn and we were there somehow. By now, everyone on the ship knew what I was doing and I got pitiful glances everywhere I went. They got me close enough to the rocks to throw a rope at them and climb into the opening on the side. I slung my backpack over my shoulders again and looked up the rocks with the rope in my hands.

"Wish me luck?" I asked Joey.

"I wish you would listen to us and get the hell away from here," he said instead. "Since you won't listen to anyone, please be safe." He wanted to hug me but didn't. Not here in front of most of my crew. I felt it though.

"I will," I smiled at him and turned back to the rocks. I started to climb when I felt something tug at the rope below. I looked down to find the Doctor following me up. "What are you doing?" I yelled back at him.

"Couldn't let you make history on your own now could I?" He grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes and continued my climb. "Just don't blame me if you get killed."

I was sweating by the time we got to the opening in the middle of the rocks. Land just isn't my thing. "So now what?" The Doctor asked me.

I was about to tell him I didn't know. We were looking at each other so I don't know if the man just appeared or if he stepped out of the rocks but he was there before I got the chance to say anything. The Doctor didn't flinch, I'll give him that much. "Have you come to take my test?" The man asked. He was dressed in a long maroon robe with a shaved head that accentuated the wrinkles that made his face look like a Mastiff. His skin was almost gray in tone.

"I don't think I have much choice now do I?" I asked.

The man smiled and waved his hand over to the three large rocks surrounding a fire pit. With his hand out, the fire instantly roared to life filling the cave with light. The walls were covered with tally marks in dark black. I wondered if those were how long the man had been here guarding the Oracle or if that was how many people had failed his test. I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "Please, sit."

The Doctor and I both sat down before the man moved, slowly he lowed himself down and looked across the flames to the two of us. "You," he said and pointed to me. "You're the one who must take the test first."

"Yes," I agreed, "but if I fail, this man won't be taking your test."

"He has no choice either," the man said and I caught the hint of an accent I couldn't quite place. He leaned forward and stared straight into my eyes. I wanted to turn away, but couldn't. His eyes were dark gray like the rock surrounding us. My head started to hurt as he leaned in closer like the fire wasn't touching him at all. The Doctor reached out and touched my hand, holding it tightly in his and the pain in my skull eased a little. My life flashed before my eyes involuntarily. I didn't even have the capacity to make a joke about how clichéd watching your own life like that was.

Then it was over and I was aware of the cave again. The pain had gone and all I could feel was the Doctor holding my hand tightly. I looked over at him. His eyes were wide like he knew what had just happened. "Are you okay?" He mouthed. I smiled and nodded even though I was a little dizzy. My ribs still hurting were worse than the dizziness.

"Jack," the man said to us, "we've been waiting for you."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13- The Doctor- Oracles…Meh, part 2

I wasn't impressed that the gate keeper knew Jack's name. Everyone seemed to know her name. Everyone also seemed to want to see her at the bottom of the ocean from what I'd gathered. The thing that had impressed me about the gate keeper was that he'd given off a low level psychic field. Jack didn't notice, but I didn't expect her to, she was still human after all. I could feel it as soon as we got into the cave. When he looked into Jack's head, the psychic field doubled and I could feel him reaching into her brain. He felt human, I had a sense about spotting alien life forms on planets they shouldn't be on, well most of the time, yet he seemed so far away from people.

"Come with me," the gate keeper smiled at Jack. She stood, shaking a little, but she got up on her own and took the hand of the gate keeper.

"Are you coming?" She looked back at me over her shoulder. I didn't want her to go with the gate keeper, there was something about him that was so utterly wrong, I couldn't get my mind around.

"Yeah," I mumbled and followed them further into the cave despite all of my senses screaming at me to run the other way. Jack seemed to trust the gate keeper, then again she seemed to trust anything and everything that book had to offer her.

We were led down a dimly lit passage, the gate keeper pulling Jack's hand along, me behind them both, sonic screwdriver at the ready. At the end of the passage, it suddenly opened up into a chamber that was easily fifty feet tall. Torches burning away without making any heat lined the smooth walls. I looked up to see an opening at the very top letting in brilliant sunlight making a ring on one of the far walls. A fire burned in the center of the room, like the first chamber where the gate keeper presided except the flame was a brilliant purple in the center. A woman lounged lying on her side on chaise lounge made of dark oak with the same purple on the long cushion as in the fire. She was wearing a long, dusty pink dress with twisted straps. Her skin was the smoothest shade of chocolate I'd ever seen. Her eyes were gray as she turned to the two of us.

"Jack," she said with a smile in a voice that could melt butter. She slowly sat up and crossed her legs over the edge of the lounger. "And the Doctor." She looked at me and I could feel her brain reaching out into mine. I repelled it and she smiled before turning back to the gate keeper. "Thank you for bringing them."

"There will be more," he warned and took a seat by the entrance to the room.

Jack sat down one of the three matching chairs set up around the fire. "We've been waiting a long time for you," the woman said and motioned for me to sit down in the chair across from her. She watched as I took my seat and didn't turn away. "You don't believe in me."

"Well, it's not that I don't believe," I started with a smile but she held her hand up to stop me.

"You've met others who claim to be like me," she said. I looked over to check on Jack. This woman was still trying to get into my brain so I expected Jack to completely enthralled, but her eyes were clear as she looked back at me. "Soothsayers and mystics only after a quick buck or taken by their religion so much that they become part of it."

"Seems to have been my experience," I agreed.

She looked from me to Jack and then back again as if considering both of us carefully. She was definitely human, and the gate keeper too, I could see that now, but they were old. Older than me possibly though I wasn't sure how that could be. "I can prove it to you." She gave us a smile.

"You," she turned those gray eyes back to me again. "Your past is filled with fire. You were happy once, but everything you loved burned in order to protect the universe," she paused as tears filled her eyes. "You watched them all burn to save those you didn't know and you were sad you couldn't have stopped the war sooner even if it meant the same fate."

I was speechless and it was Jack this time who took my hand as the woman continued on. "You've traveled very far alone, sometimes with the company of others," she paused again, "you loved them all but some more than others. You caused them all pain but not enough to erase the good."

The woman leaned forward a bit. "Never forget all the good you've done for them," she gave me a reassuring smile. "You also think you're the last one of your kind. You will never be the last one."

"What?"

"He will always return," she stopped and leaned back against the pillows. "But enough of your past, your future is much more interesting," she smiled. "You must take advantage of the time you have left. The others are happy, they miss you every day but they are happy. The next one, you don't have to worry about her getting hurt. You've seen that."

"I thought you were supposed to speak prophecies?" I asked her. She'd hit a little too close to home and I wished she had spoken like all the myths said she had. Jack was looking over at me like she was on the brink of figuring out what the woman had spoken about. That Jack, she was smarter than she let on.

"I never spoke in prophecies," the woman laughed. "The men who wouldn't give me any power because of my gender did. All the way up until the end when they started speaking for me, and I almost burned."

"I told you," Jack grinned at me.

"Captain Jack," the woman looked amused but she turned her attention to Jack. "You've spent all of your life out on the water because you don't think you fit in on land. Chasing your father's dream," she paused again, "following the book because he told you it will lead you to riches."

The woman was quiet and she looked up to the sky through the opening. "Yet you don't understand the book anymore than those who want to steal it from you. Your father didn't tell you that riches aren't gold or treasure. Jack, I see two paths for you. One that leads you to a loneliness that you can't image right now or the one you don't want to accept. You have to let someone in."

Jack didn't say anything. She leaned back into her chair and twisted one hand through the tangle of blonde hair circling her head. She looked softer sitting there, contemplating what she had just heard. "There is a storm brewing," the woman said quite suddenly.

"I came to warn you," Jack said and the softness was gone again. She was frowning with the hard lines that came with it. "There is a man on his way here. He wants to control you."

"I know," the woman spoke quietly. "I couldn't see when so I sent all of my people off, just myself and the gate keeper."

"Why?" I asked her speaking out of turn. I wasn't sold that she could see the future, but if her claims were correct, she should have left herself.

"I had to wait for Jack," the woman told me. "She has to be told about her paths because one will benefit mankind for an eternity. Besides," her gray eyes were focused on me again and I felt like a child who had incorrectly questioned his teacher. "I can only see things that will probably happen, not when they will happen."

"You have to move," Jack interrupted. "I don't know where he is but I know he's psychotic enough to kill everything in his path to gain control over you and everything that I've learned says you are nonviolent."

"It'll take too much time," the woman said. "I knew this the first time I saw you coming here. He will be here by the morning."

"How much time do you need?" Jack asked.

"At least forty-eight hours."

"I can give you that," Jack stood up. "It's the least I can do."

"Jack," the woman called after her as she started back towards the passage. "I can't let you create a third path."

"Maybe this was the one you didn't want to see," Jack said softly and turned away from both of us.

I looked at the woman and stood up. "Well, it's been nice meeting you. I'll be on my way now."

"Doctor, Jack has two paths but you only have the one. Don't try and change it," she told me with a sweet smile.

I shook my head and headed off towards the passage. There were too many thoughts in my head. I had to focus on Jack and her apparent death wish. "You don't have to protect her." I yelled after Jack.

She stopped and turned back to me. "The last time the Oracle was controlled by men Greece imploded, the second time Rome fell, third time led to the dark ages. I don't want to see the fourth," I must have been looking at her oddly because she grinned at me for a brief second. "Yeah when you let her look into your brain, you get to see her past too." She turned and started walking again.

"Jack!" I yelled again and ran after her.

"You think you understand humans but you don't. So why don't you get back in your little blue box and let me try and help her?" She yelled right back.

"Because I don't want you to die!" I didn't know where that came from but it got her attention.

"And why's that?" She asked standing on her tiptoes so that she could see my face better. "You think that saving me will make up for all those you've lost? Huh? Can't you see that I'm not worth saving? I'm just as bad as Sir William so you should be helping me save all those innocent people he will destroy."

"I want to save you because you're not evil you stupid woman," I grabbed the sides of her face and pushed her against the wall behind her until we were pressed together. I bent down and kissed her taking us both by surprise. "You are worth saving." I whispered to her.

She pushed me away, her eyes glared at me, boring a hole straight through me. She threw her hands into the air and huffed off down the passage never once looking back at me.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14- The Doctor- Crazy Captain Jack

I didn't think it was possible to be ignored on such a small island, but Jack had managed. She told the crew they would be staying on the island for the night and ordered them to unpack the overnight gear. Before I knew it, a city of tents sprouted up surrounding a large bonfire. By nightfall, the whole crew seemed to be sitting around it. One man was softly strumming a guitar while a few others had rigged pots over the fire. Most were laughing and drinking beer. Jack was sitting by herself on the other side of the flames looking out at the water. You could see every direction from the top of the caves where it flattened out into a pasture. I'd even noticed you could see Jamaica during the daylight. Every time I'd tried to make eye contact with Jack, she turned away and faced another patch of water.

After a while, she stood and turned to her crew. They all stopped talking or eating and looked at her, almost like they had been waiting all night for Jack to stop contemplating the water and explain why they were there. "I'm going to be honest with all of you," she said took a long sip of the bottle of alcohol she'd had in her hand. She set it back into her folding chair and turned back to them. "Most of you probably know by now we've found the Oracle of Delphi thanks to the book."

A few of the crew members nodded but she went on, "the reason I followed her here is Sir William," there were a few groans and Jack smiled. "He wants her for his collection. Mainly, he wants to control the future."

She let that sink in with the guys. "I'm not asking any of you to risk your lives," she said and looked at them. "I don't want you to risk your lives, but I have to protect her. Sir William should be here sometime tomorrow coming from that way," she pointed to the eastern part of the island where she had parked her boat. "In case something bad happens to me tomorrow, I want you all to get your things off the ship tonight." She bowed slightly to her crew and went into her tent and didn't come back out until the morning.

I woke up the next day to the sound of shouts. The sun was already out and blazing down on top of the make-shift city. They all seemed to be rushing about from the tents to the boat so I followed a few of them down the side of the island to a small dock the Oracle, which I still didn't like calling her that, had told them about.

"What are they doing?" I asked Joey once I was standing in the middle of the deck.

"Preparing the ship to sail," he said shortly.

"Sailing?" I asked. "Sailing to where?"

"Nowhere," Joey frowned and walked off towards Jack's cabin. I followed just because I didn't know what else to do.

"Captain?" Joey greeted Jack. She was sitting on the edge of her bed. Her hair was brushed and curling around her shoulders, her fingernails had been painted a deep red, and she was wearing make-up, a gray color around her eyes and soft pink lipstick. She wore a navy sundress that went down to her calves.

"Ready to sail?" She asked him. He gave her a quick nod. "Good, when it's done, get everyone off the ship. Take the radio with you to call for help if I go," she struggled to finish her sentence.

Joey stepped forward and took her hand. "You don't have to go down with the ship," he said softly. "Your dad wouldn't this to be your end."

Jack smiled brightly at him like she had shook herself awake on the inside. "I have to because I'm the only one who can help." He was still looking at her with glassy eyes. "I'll be fine," she assured him. "If I have to go out, I'd rather it be this way."

Joey leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Please come back little one."

"Take care of yourself," Jack grinned and pushed him a little. He'd turned to the door when we found we were looking at the usual daytime watchman.

"Sir William, out of the east," he said heaving for breath. "Three big boats and six speed boats."

"Well, that's my cue," Jack smiled. "Get everyone off the boat now." Joey and the watchmen scrambled leaving her staring at me. "Means you too." She picked a holster up off her desk and slid it on, two guns on each side. She picked up a rifle and slung it over her back before grabbing a shot gun in her hands. She didn't say anything to me but walked out and went down a floor past all the crew members running around.

I followed her as she went into a room I'd never seen, the armory. She set the shotgun down and set about loading two of the six cannons. "You don't have to do this." I told her.

"I do," Jack said without really looking at me. "Will your blue box survive being sunk?"

"I don't know," I admitted and ran a hand through my hair. "It should."

"Okay," she went over to the wall and flipped a switch, red light flooded the room. "Joey will find a way to get your box back to the surface." She said confident in her own demise.

"Jack," I started but she brushed past me again and I found myself trailing her back up the stairs. The crew was gone including Joey.

"Please save your talking and don't take offense to this but," she stopped and looked at me. "Get off my ship."

She turned her back to me and went to the wheel. I knew she would be pulling away from the dock at any moment so I watched her in that simple blue dress of hers and wondered if it would be the last time I would see her again.

I found the rest of the crew back at the tents looking out at the water. Jack her pulled the Sunset Ambrosia out into the open water, heading right for Sir William's boats. "Aren't any of you going to do anything?" I yelled at them.

"Nothing we can do son," Joey said and clapped a hand on my shoulder. I wanted to yell more at them, say they were cowards for letting her do their work or at least tell Joey I was far older than him but I was stopped.

The Oracle stood next to me. She was dressed in a long, white dress they blew in tendrils in the wind. I hadn't noticed her before but then again, she was a little outside my field of vision. "They won't understand your affection for her," she said wisely. "To them Jack is masculine and capable of taking care of herself. You, you see her for what she really is, delicate and caring." I looked at her wondering if we were still talking about the same Jack. "Even if you don't completely see that yet."

"She's going to die," I gritted my teeth. I couldn't be the only one outraged by that thought.

"Not if I can help it," The Oracle said in the most human voice I'd heard her say. She turned to the water and cupped a hand to her mouth. She blew into her hand as hard as she could and a fierce wind blew past us rustling the trees behind us. Massive waves began to churn and toss white sprays up into the air and crashing into the boats. Two of the speed boats turned sideways and their engines cut out. Four kept coming but it gave Jack a chance. She set off her cannons and four loud booms ripped through the air. She got three of the speed boats and hit one of the bigger ones.

I looked back at the Oracle who seemed to be deep in thought. "That wasn't enough."

She turned to me and her eyes turned a deep gray. A spark of light went through them and the sky above us thickened up, deep black clouds rolling in. "I told you a storm was brewing." The clouds seemed to roll over each other and thunder rocked the island. "I see fire," she said suddenly.

"What?" I asked. Her hand pointed out to the Sunset Ambrosia and in one moment, I saw the fire she was speaking of before it happened. One of the big boats sent a rocket headed straight for Jack. She didn't have enough time to move and the boat took a hit on the side. Flames erupted and Jack set off the last two of the cannons taking down another speed boat and the big boat she'd hit before.

"Jack!" I felt myself yell but it didn't seem real. I thought I would fly off the edge of the island trying to get to her but the Oracle held out one hand.

"There," she said and pointed to Sir William's yacht.

I sat down in the thick grass and wondered if this was my punishment for all the death and destruction I'd caused. I had to watch Jack die and be trapped on the planet with the man who had killed her.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15- Jack- Where's My Funeral Parade?

I was awake but not really, in that dreamland after something so traumatic that it takes a while for your body to realize you're not quite as dead as it thought. Every inch of my body hurt. I suppose that was the one thing that reminded me I wasn't dead. I remembered sinking a few of the speed boats but then my ship, my Sunset Ambrosia, got blown up. I didn't know what had happened after that so I thought maybe, for a brief second this was hell. A pain filled, half asleep hell that I couldn't wake up from. Then I heard a voice.

"Sir, she's conscious," the voice said.

Another voice entered the room and I became more aware that I was lying uncomfortably on a hard surface. "Good," he said. I knew that voice. Thick Southern accent in a low bravado, Sir William. "Jack, wake up. I know you're with us."

I coughed and sputtered up what tasted like salt water and made a terrible groan as I struggled to find my voice. "I'd rather not," I mumbled. My throat felt thick.

"Open your eyes," Sir William ordered. Two arms grabbed mine and pulled me off the floor and set me in a chair. It was more comfortable than the floor, but not by much.

I shouldn't have listened to him. There were lights shining down on me when I did and they hurt my eyes and I shut them again. My lids felt crusty and heavy and when they did finally open, it took a minute to focus. Sure enough, Sir William was sitting across from me, only a few feet away wearing khaki pants and a blue Hawaiian shirt. "Ah, there you are," he said.

I looked down at my arms to see they were both bloody, the right one had a bandage over what felt like a burn. My clothes were singed in spots of black. "Where's my ship?"

"Bottom of this lovely little bay." He was far too happy about that and I wanted to slap the smile off his face. I tried my best despite the pain retching through my body but the two hands caught me again and pushed me roughly back into the chair. "That wasn't nice," Sir William wagged a finger at me. "We'll have to take some measures to prevent you from trying that again."

He stood up and the other man in the room handed him a syringe. He held it up to his eyes to make sure I could see the clear liquid inside. "Funny thing about this," he waved it around a bit. "A woman in Louisiana concocted this for me. She says it will paralyze a person from the neck down in less than two minutes." He popped the cap off the needle and jammed it into my arm before I could try and squirm away.

"Now we can talk," he grinned again. I could feel the poison taking effect. My feet were going numb in a hurry and before he spoke again, I couldn't move my finger. "Where is she?"

"Where's who?"

"The Oracle!" Sir William yelled at me. He took a breath and regained his composure. "The Oracle. I know you wouldn't be here if she wasn't hiding somewhere."

"Did you check the island?" I asked sarcastically. Both legs were numb and my arms were going heavy. I knew it hadn't been two minutes yet.

"We can't seem to find a way up," he told me.

"Well, what you know," I laughed. He couldn't see the cave. The Oracle was more protected than I'd thought, either that or it was part of her move. "I guess that's what happens when you try and find a figure from a myth." I'd lost control of my arms and my chest was getting that numb feeling.

Another man walked in the room and whispered something to Sir William, his mouth turned away from me completely. "Bring him in."

"Yes sir," the man scurried off and was back less than a minute later dragging someone behind him. He propped the Doctor up against the wall next to Sir William so I could see. He was dripping wet and bleeding over her right eye. He looked at me and seemed genuinely surprised.

"Seems we have ourselves a stow away," Sir William grinned at me.

"He's got nothing to do with this," I spat at him, well as best I could for only being able to control my head at this point. I made a mental note to track down the woman who made this little number. It could be helpful in the near future.

"Tell me where the Oracle is and I'll let him walk," Sir William smiled again since he had the upper hand again.

"Don't do it Jack," The Doctor said softly.

"Wasn't planning on it," I grinned. "I don't trust you," I looked over at Sir William. "You're not going to let him live any more than you'll let me live."

"Fine," he admitted and sat back in his chair. "But I know your men are here somewhere, probably with the Oracle if I know you."

"Which you don't," I sneered.

"I know you well enough," he chuckled. "You were alone on that ship so your crew has to be here somewhere. If you tell me where they are, I'll let them live. I'll be taking them as my own crew, but they'll live."

The thunder outside was louder now and the waves were crashing against the hull of the ship quicker. We were heading into the heart of the storm. I weighed my options and decided escape was the best plan. "Take me out onto the deck and I'll show you."

Sir William looked my over. We both knew I couldn't move even if I really wanted to so he nodded his head to the other man. "Okay Jack."

"Him too, in case I've forgotten the way," I nodded towards the Doctor. Sir William's lackey came behind me and slid his arms under my armpits and hauled me up. Sir William walked out the door and another man, pointing a gun, walked in and motioned for the Doctor to follow.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed at the Doctor on the way up. The guy holding me was dragging me with heavy grunts.

"Vengeance," the Doctor told me grimly.

"And how'd that work for you?" I rolled my eyes.

"What's wrong with your legs?"

"Paralyzed," I said as we reached the deck.

"What now Jack?" Sir William asked. Rain pelted all of us and bright streaks of light lit up the sky every few seconds or so. Water was drenching my eyes but I couldn't do anything about it. I hadn't thought this far ahead.

"Umm," My eyes darted from the Doctor to the island and back to the Doctor hoping he would have some brilliant plan to save the both of us.

"She's moved again," the Doctor said desperately.

"What?" Sir William stood inches from the Doctor's face and glared at him. They were staring at each other when the lightning struck. One bolt to the middle of the deck and we were all sent flying.

I was back in the water again and I remembered what had happened to my ship because it was happening all over again except this time I was conscious. I hadn't taken a big enough breath before I hit the water and my lungs immediately started to hurt. The waves above kept me from safely floating to the top and I wondered if this was how my life was going to end. Drowning, could be worse I suppose. I just hoped Joey would remember I wanted to be buried in New Orleans, next to my grandfather.

Two strong arms pulled me up before I could think any further. I hit the surface and took in big gulps of air. The Doctor had his arms around me and I felt like a ragdoll as my own arms floated lifelessly beside us. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment like there was nothing else around. Then he turned and dragged me back to shore. He collapsed next to me, his chest heaving for air on the sand.

"This beach wasn't here five minutes ago," I said to him, staring up at the sky because that was the only thing I could do. It had stopped raining and the sky was clearing, aside from the black smoke filling the air.

"That's what you're concerned with?" The Doctor laughed.

"Did all the boats get hit by lightning?"

"All," the Doctor confirmed.

"Good," I said softly. "What were you doing there?"

"I thought you were dead," he sat up and leaned over, a hand on either side of my head.

"My too," I confessed.

"You really are crazy Jack," he grinned.

"I know," I laughed.


	16. Chapter 16

So, here's the last chapter. Thanks everyone for reading this far and suffering through my bad grammar and typing errors! I appreciate the wonderful feedback and maybe I'll work on another Captain Jack piece soon, maybe not involving the Doctor just yet though!

Chapter 16- Jack- Goodbye for now

It took the poison three hours to wear off. The Doctor had carried me back to the camp, somewhat to my embarrassment. The Oracle had offered to cure the poison quicker but I had reminded her that even with her knowledge of hoodoo, it wasn't much match for Louisiana grit. The Doctor had set me in a blue lawn chair facing the water so I could watch Sir William's boat burn. I knew he wasn't on it. I couldn't be so lucky that he would have perished in the blast. He was on one of the speed boats that hadn't been damaged and there would be another boat out there somewhere waiting to take them back to shore. I did know he wouldn't be back here for a while. He had little to no ammunition and was down on goons. He would try again but by then, the Oracle would be long gone.

"Any feeling yet?" The Doctor asked and slapped another chair down beside mine.

I held my right hand out and wiggled my fingers about. "I think I could probably walk again."

"Good," he smiled at me and then looked out to the water. The boats had sunk, the biggest was still visible not too far from the surface but it was fading fast. "Do you think he'll be back?"

"Yup," I said easily. "He'll come after me again."

"You could always give up the book," the Doctor suggested.

I laughed a little and said, "I can't do that."

He nodded his head a little and we watched the sun start to set off in the distance. I think we both knew the Oracle was standing behind us watching too but neither said anything. I let her make the first move. "You survived Jack," she said softly. "Your path has been redefined," she smiled down at me.

"Are you prepared to move now?" I asked her.

"We are ready," The Oracle nodded and the Gatekeeper stepped into my line of sight. It was the first time I had seen him out of the caves. He looked happier, or at least less worried. His face even seemed to have a few less wrinkles. "Be good Jack," she said and leaned down to plant a kiss on my forehead. She started to walk away before I had a thought.

"Wait," I called after her and stood up on my wobbly legs. The Doctor took hold of one of my arms to keep me steady. "How do we get off this island?"

She looked at me for a moment and then a wide smile spread across her face she waved her hands out towards the water. I looked away from her and saw the Sunset Ambrosia, black sails fluttering in the breeze and all, sitting out in the bay. The Doctor's blue box was sitting out on the deck. The wood seemed to sparkle in the sunlight like it had been coated with a fresh layer of sealant. I smiled at her. The feeling of homelessness had settled in while I watched the other boats sink into the bay but that feeling in the pit of my stomach left. I turned back to the Oracle to thank her but she was gone.

"Still not the oddest thing I've seen," I grinned at the Doctor. He stood and put an arm at my waist and helped me along to the camp.

"We're leaving in an hour," I yelled to the crew who seemed weary.

"Jack, how?" Joey asked quietly.

"Same way we came in," I grinned and pointed to the path that led down to the dock. He followed my eyes and saw the ship waiting.

It was slow going but I eventually made it back to the Sunset Ambrosia. The Doctor helped me along but I think that was for lack of anything better to do. "Same as she was before," I smiled brightly at the Doctor and patted the main mast with my hand. Everything seemed cleaner as I'd walked around, inspected every nook and cranny. The only thing missing were the black market paintings and the Samurai sword I had stolen from Mexico. She'd really wanted me to be good. Even my cabin had a sparkle to it I hadn't seen since I'd drudged the ship up from her watery grave. I'd inspected the cabin first. My father's locket was still in it's hiding place underneath a loose floorboard near my bed. I'd slipped it on over my head along with a sweater over the singed dress.

"My ship," I told the Doctor as he stood in the middle of the deck watching me. His coat hung over the railing billowing out in the wind. "Just like I left her, blue box and all."

He leaned against the railing. "What will you do now?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Go home, visit with my family a bit. Give the book a rest," I told him. "What will you do?"

"Well," he tried to smile but ended up looking towards the setting sun. "I guess that's up to the TARDIS," he finally looked back at me and stood straight up. "Only one way to find out." I watched as he opened the door to the box easily and stepped inside. I gave him a minute before I walked over and stood in the door frame.

"Any luck?" I asked. He was leaning over the console, head hung between his shoulder blades so I knew the answer long before he spoke.

"Nothing," he stood straight up and ran a hand through his hair. I stepped inside and walked around the console.

"My ship's not so bad," I tried to be reassuring because a part of me didn't want to see him go.

"No it's not," he smiled again, "but I'll only bring danger into your life."

"I seem to be plenty good at that all on my own," I laughed.

He looked back down to the console. "Maybe if I brought the book closer to the heart," he muttered to himself. I walked around the console again before I stopped in front of a panel near the base.

"What's this thing?" I asked pointing to a sort of oval shaped indentation.

"I don't know," the Doctor waved a hand and went back to muttering about the book and dimensions and things I really didn't understand having hated physics in school.  
I leaned down until I was face to face with the indentation. The locket fell out of shirt and seemed to sway closer to the panel. I pulled the chain over my head and inspected the shape comparing it with the indentation. My hand shook a little as I stretched the locket out on my palm and leaned closer to the panel. The locket seemed to jump out of my hand like it was magnetized and stuck into the indent fitting perfectly. "Huh, what do you know? It is alien," I mumbled as the console seemed to spring to life.

"What's it doing?" I stood up alarmed.

The Doctor grinned at me. "She's unstuck. It must have been the dimensional rift fixing itself."

"Or," I pointed to the locket that seemed to be glowing a golden color, "it could be that I put the locket there."

"Or that," he knelt down to inspect the locket and something must have clicked in his head. He stood up and looked at me. "Your father said that locket would lead you to something great?" I nodded my head and he ran to the other side and started flipping switches. That noise that I'd heard before on the night he'd gotten here rang through the air again only this time it didn't seem so scary. When it stopped and the console was still again the Doctor held out his hand. "Come with me," he smiled and took my hand. He opened the door and I was looking down at the Earth.

My breath was taken away as I looked down at the whole of my world. I'd traveled every part of the blue that seemed to dominate and it had all seemed too small. From here, everything seemed bigger just because it was small. Clouds blew along the surface and I could see the lights of the bigger cities of Europe. "The symbols on that locket," the Doctor started, "represented friendship and family in my civilization."

"How did it end up here, on Earth?" I pointed down to the globe in front of us."

"I don't know," he admitted. "I wish I knew why it was there or who put it there."

We were both thinking about the possibilities that he had left it there for my dad to find, or at least a future version of himself, but neither one of us said anything. I stared down at my planet for a while longer before I looked up at him. "Can you take me back to my ship now?"

"Of course," he smiled and shut the door and before I knew it, I was back on the deck of my own ship.

"That was," I paused, "something else."

We stood and looked at each other for a minute, unsure of what to say. "I suppose your crew will be along soon."

"Should be."

He stared into my eyes like he was trying to memorize every fleck of color in them. "You could come with me?"

"Or you could stay here," I suggested right back.

He smiled and sadness crept into his eyes. He knew I wouldn't go with him and he couldn't stay here for long. "I should get my TARDIS off your boat."

"Ship," I corrected him with a grin and stood a few feet from him.

"No, ship implies something that's big and modern. Like my TARDIS."

"That's not a ship, that's a box," I laughed before feeling the sadness creep in again. "I'll see you again."

"Right," he smiled and held his arms out.

I hugged him easily, forgetting that I was supposed to be the Captain of a supposed pirate ship and let his warmth envelope me. "It's not goodbye forever." I looked up at him. He kissed me quickly on the lips and then we broke apart. He folded the locket into my hand with a forced smile.

Without another word, he went back to his little blue box and walked in. I wanted to run after him but I wanted to stay on my ship too. He didn't turn back though. The noise echoed through the air and slowly the box dematerialized in front of my eyes. "Now, that's the weirdest thing I've seen yet," I laughed to myself and went to my cabin to change out of my dress. My crew needed a break and I needed to go home for a while.


End file.
